Slide out mechanism



Judy 2, 1963 N. n... KENDT 3,096,125

SLIDE OUT MECHANISM Filed Oct. 19, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.Noam/m L. KENDT [gl/www -HS ATTORNEY July E963 N. L. KENDT SLIDE ouTMECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19. 1961 MT M o EN Vm m. L N A M RO N www@ H l5 ATTORNEY United States Patent Gn ice 3,096,125 SLIDE OUTMECHANISM Norman L. Kendt, Louisvilie, Ky., assiguor to General ElectricCompany, a corporation of New York Filed Get. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 146,1062 Claims. (Cl. 30S- 3.3)

This invention relates to slide-out mechanisms, and more particularly tosuch mechanisms formed for use in dishwashing machines.

It is an object of my invention to provide a slide-out mechanism whichis formed so as to provide a surface area of a shape unlikely to retainfood particles slung against it.

A more particular object of my invention is to provide such a mechanismfor use in connection with a dish rack in a dishwashing machine.

In one aspect of my invention, I provide a support system, or slide-outmechanism, for an article-holding member which may conventionally be adish rack in a dishwasher. Secured to each of the parallel side walls ofthe dishwasher are two pairs of rollers, a top pair and a bottom pair;all the rollers which are secured to any one wall are positioned in thesame plane, with the -front rollers spaced from the back rollers. Inaddition, the front rollers of each pair and the .back rollers of eachpair on any one wall are equally vertically spaced from each other, intrack-receiving relation, so as to receive a track member which ispositioned between the two pairs of rollers so as to be supported bythem and so as to be horizontally movable parallel :to the wall. Each ofthe two track members has an elongated slot formed extending entirelytherethrough, the slot being elongated in the direction of movement ofthe track member. Two additional pairs of spaced rollers arerespectively secured on opposite sides of the article-holding member;each pair of the additional rollers is positioned in a -slot of a trackmember. Both of the additional rollers which are positioned within theslot of a track member lie in the same plane as the two pairs of rollerswhich support that track member.

In addition to the foregoing structural aspects, an important feature ofmy invention comprises the forming of the rollers so that each rollerhas its periphery formed with a substantially V-shaped annular recess.Also, each track member has its upper and lower surfaces, and the upperand lower surfaces of the slot formed therein, arranged incross-section) with convergently sloping sides. With this structure,`the track member surfaces are received within the roller recesses insupporting and movable relation. This structure eliminates all foodretaining recesses and surfaces on the track member and thus eliminatesthe undesirable requirement of having `to clean the track member of foodparticles in order to insure continued sanitary conditions lwi-thin thedishwasher.

The subject matter which I regard as my invention is particularlyIpointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of thisspecication. My invention, however, together with further objects andadvantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction Vwith the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

FIGURE l is a side elevational view, with some of the parts broken away,of a dishwasher embodying my invention;

FIGURE 2 is `an enlarged view of the upper portion of the dishwasherwherein my invention is incorporated; and FIGURE 3 is a view along line3-3 in FIGURE 2.

While my invention is, of course, not restricted to the particularassociated structure shown, in order to illustrate the invention and itsadvantages I have shown in the 3,096,125 Patented July 2, 1963 drawingsa dishwasher, generally indicated by the numeral 1, of the type whereina cabinet 2 is provided, the cabinet including a stationary back 3 andthe conventional side walls 4 and 5. The back and walls .together with afront door section 6 form the vertical walls of the enclosure 7 withinwhich are positioned a pair of racks 8 and 9 formed to receive and holddishes to be washed.

The enclosure -s conventionally closed .by a top section 10, and inorder to gain access to the enclosure, the door section 6 is grasped byan upper handle portion 11 and pivoted downwardly about pivot memberssuch as that shown at 12 until it lies substantially horizontally. Inits horizontal position the door forms a guide on which the lower rack 9may be slid out -for ready access and loading; it will be understoodthat the particular cooperative conguration of the door and rack 9 doesnot form part of this invention and is, therefore, not further describedherein.

Briefly continuing the description of the dishwasher 1, it mayincorporate suitable washing means such as a lower rotatable waterejecting member V13 Iand an upper rotatable 'water ejecting member .14,together with a rotatable telescoping spraying member l15, all threemembers 'being fed from -a pumping assembly structure 16 so that ywateris ejected against the dishes with considerable force so as to cleanthem. The pumping assembly 16 receives its water through an inlet 17 atthe very bottom of the enclosure 7, and is normally driven by a motor 18in the conventional manner. Motor 18 may, for instance, be of the typewhich, Iwhen rotated in one direction, causes the pumping assembly 16 toforce liquid up through members 13, 14 and 15 for diswashing purpoes,and which, when reversed, causes the pumping assembly to pass liquid outto a drain (not shown).

It will be understood that with such a structure a dish washingoperation may readily be provided by means of ya conventional sequencecontrol assembly (not shown) which controls in suitable sequence theentry of water and washing materials, lthe spraying of the dishes, andthe removal of the water. In addition, for drying the dishes after theyhave :been clean-sed, a suitable electric heating element 19 may beprovided in the conventional manner, with the intent being that element19 also be under the control of the sequence control assembly so as to-be energized at the end of the washing operation, and during thewashing operation if so desired to assist in heating water.

It will be apparent that while the lower rack 9 may readily be slid outusing door 11 as a track, no such solution is present with the upperrack 8. Nonetheless, it is necessary that the upper rack be mounted sothat it will slide out to a position where the entire rack is outsidethe dishwasher, substantially as shown in FIGURE 2, to facilitate theloading of the rack. In this connection, it is a known expedient to userollers mounted on the stationary inner wall of the dishwasher, with atrack member being mounted to slide on the rollers and the rack thenbeing mounted to slide on the track member. With such an arrangement,the track member may slide partly out of the enclosure 7 and the rack 8may slide partly over the end of the track member, the combination ofthe two factors providing complete removal of the rack member fromwithin the enclosure 7. In the past, however, such structures have actedas food catchers, in that particles of food remaining on dirty dishesinserted into the dishwasher would, under the inil'uence of the strongjets of water playing on the dishes, be flung against the track andretained there by the shape of the track. It is desirable to avoid thissituation and it is toward this goal that the present struct-ure, now tobe described, is aimed. It will understood that while structureassociated with wall 4 is featured throughout the following description,an

identical opposing structure is cooperatively provided in connectionwith wall 5 to as to cooperate therewith.

`Rotatably mounted on wall 4 is a .first upper pair of rollers includinga front roller and a back roller 21, and a second lower pair of rollersincluding a front roller 22 and a back roller 23. The back rollers 21and 23 are spaced from the front rollers 20 and 22 a lsuticient amountto provide the support function to be described hereinafter. The rollers20 and 22 and the rollers 21 and 23 are spaced vertically an equalamount from each other so as to receive therebetween a track member,generally indicated by the numeral 24, so that the track member may bemoved forward and backward horizontally in a plane parallel to the wall4, being guided and supported rby the rollers 20, 21, 22 and 23. Theends of the track may be enlarged, as shown at 25 at the back end and at26 at the front end, so as to act as stops. In other Words, forwardmotion of the track necessarily stops when portion 25 reaches the backroller 21 and backward motion of the track necessarily stops whenportion 26 reaches the rollers 20 and 22.

A slot which is divided into two aligned portions 27 and 28 is formed inthe track member 24. 'I'he slot portions extend entirely through thetrack member, i.e., they form holes therein rather than recesses. Inaddition, the lengthwise dimension of the slots extends in the directionof movement of the track member. The slot portions 27 Jand 28 areseparated by a solid section 29 of track mem- Rotatably secured to eachside of the rack S is a pair of rollers 30 and 31 which are respectivelypositioned within slot portions 27 and 28 so as to roll back and forththerein. By virtue of the engagement of rollers 30 and 31 within theslot portions -27 and 28 of track 24, the rack is supported forhorizontal sliding motion relative to the track. Thus, when the trackhas reached its forwardmost position, as shown in FIGURE 2, the rollers30 and 31 may then roll Within the slot portions 27 and 28 to permitrack 8 to move forward to the position shown where it is entirely out ofthe enclosure 7. The front (or left) end of slot portion 27 acts, inthis case, as a stop member. When the rack is pushed back, the rollers30 and 31 slide back in the slot portions 27 and 2S and the track 24, aspreviously mentioned, slides back relative to rollers 20, 21, 22 and 23.These movements continue until the movement of the track is stopped, aspreviously mentioned, by engagement of rollers 20 and 22 with portion 26of the track member, and movement of the rack is stopped by engagementof roller 31 with the rear end of the slot portion 28.

As an important feature of my invention, I cause all of the rollers oneach side, that is, rollers 20, 21, 22, 23, 30 and 31 to be formed witha peripheral V-shaped groove 32 therein, it being understood thatV-shaped is used here in the same context as when referring to V belts;for instance, the V may be truncated and still come within the meaningof the term. Also, the sides of the V, While they are preferablystraight, as shown, to facilitate manufacture, may be somewhat curvedWithout departing from the invention.

All of the r-oller engaging portions of the track 24 are formed insubstantially the same manner in accordance with my invention. Theseportions include the top portion 33 which is engaged -by rollers 20 and21, the -bottom portion 34 which is engaged by rollers 22 and 23, thetop 35 of the slot portions 27 and 28 which is engaged by rollers 30 and31, and the bottom 36 of the slot portion-s which is also engaged byrollers 30 and 31. In each case, the track portion is formed by`convergently sloping sides which terminate in relatively narrow areas37, 38, 39 and 40 respectively. In other words, in cross section thetrack portions which enga-ge the rollers are also in the shape ofgenerally truncated Vs; the sides, in this case,

are bowed by manufacturing preference ber 24 is generally a molded part.

It will be seen that the track member 24 includes virtually allnon-vertical surfaces, with only the very outer ends, which engage therollers, being horizontal, and these horizontal surfaces are limited asmuch as is possible consistent with the loads they are required to bear.By the provision of recessed rollers and protruding track portions ofthe shape described, there are no track portions which are formed so asto tend to catch food particles and retain them.

Where so desired, in order to strengthen the track, between each tworoller engaging portions the track may be strengthened by a thickenedsection such as those shown by the numerals 41 and 42 in FIGURE 3. It isimportant in connection with these strengthening portions, whenprovided, that they too be formed so as to include no horizontallyextending surfaces which might tend to retain food particles flungagainst them, and it will be observed that portions 41 and 42 slopesmoothly from their tops to their bottoms so as to have no horizontalportions whatsoever.

A further advantageous feature of my invention lies in the provision,lin each roller, of a small groove 43 extending peripherally thcrearoundat the center of the groove 32. This small groove 43 is of particularadvantage Where the track member 34 is a molded part. This advantageresults because the track member is normally formed in a mold made up oftwo like sections which come together at the top and bottom, and in theslot of the track member. Bec-anse this is the junction line of the twomold sections, it sometimes occurs that there is a narrow film of moldedmaterial left extending along the center of each of the surfaces 37, 38,39, and 40. When this occurs, its presence may, unless taken care of,harm the proper engagement of these surfaces with the rollers. However,where groove 43 is provided, the additional film, when it exists, iscrushed into groove 43 and thus does not affect the manner in which theremainder of the roller surface engages the track member surface. Thus,groove 43 represents a further improvement lin my improved construction.

It will readily be understood that with an assembly of the typedescribed provided on each s-ide of rack 8, the desired in and outmotion of the rack relative to enclosure 7 is obtained while at thesarne time the mechanism provided does not trap food particles as hasbeen a possibility in previous mechanisms of this type.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, I do not desire the invention to be limited to the preciseconstruction disclosed, and I intend by the appended claims to cover allmodications which fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A support system comprising:

(a) -at least one roller rotatably secured to a stationary structure,

(b) `a substantially V-shaped truncated. annular recess in the peripheryof said roller with the plane of truncation providing a contact surface,

(c) a track member asociated `wit-h said. roller and having convergentlysloping sides received within said recess,

(d) said convergently sloping sides terminating at a flat portion'arranged to bear against the Contact surface of said roller,

(e) said track member being formed of molded material made up of twosections which come together at the top and bottom and are subjected toirregular flashing along said flat portion rat their junction line andin the line of movement of said track member as a result of the moldingprocess, yand (j) a small peripheral groove in` said contact sur-facesince track mem- -of said roller adapted to receive the irregularflashing along said at portion of said track member. 2. A -supportsystem comprising:

I(a) a structure havin-g at least one side Wall,

(b) an article-holding member,

(c) a top pair of rollers rotatably secured to said side wall includinga front roller and a back roller in spaced relation,

(d) a bottom pair of rollers rotatably secured to said side wallincluding a front roller and a back roller in spaced relation,

(e) a track member supported by said top pair and said bottom pair ofrollers for horizontal movement parallel to said side Wall,

(f) an elongated slot formed in said track member and extending in thedirection of movement of said track member,

(g) an -additional pair of spaced rollers rotatably secured to thearticle-holding member and received by said elongated slot,

(h) said additional pair of spaced rollers, said top pair of rollers andsaid bottom pair of rollers all being positioned in the same plane,

(i) -a substantially V-shaped truncated annular recess in the peripheryof each of :all said rollers with the plane of truncation providing acontact surface,

(j) said track member having its upper and lower surfaces formed withconvergently sloping sid-es received within said recess -in said toppair of rollers and said bottom pair of rollers respectively,

(k) said elongated slot having its upper and lower surfaces formed withconvergently sloping sides received within said recesses in saidadditional pair of rollers,

(l) said upper and lower surfaces of said track member and said upperand lower surfaces of said elongated slot each having a flat portionarranged to bear against the contact surfaces of its respective saidannular recess,

(m) said track member being formed of molded material made up of twolike sections which come together at the top and bottom and laresubjected to irregular flashing along said at portion of said trackmember at their junction -line at their center, and

(n) a small peripheral groove provided at the center of the contactsurface of each of said rollers adapted to receive said irregularashing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS573,461 Hamilton Dec. 22, 1896 686,777 Snook Nov. 19, 1901 FOREIGNPATENTS 410,069 France May 10, 1910

1. A SUPPORT SYSTEM COMPRISING: (A) AT LEAST ROLLER ROTATABLY SECURED TOA STATIONARY STRUCTURE, (B) A SUBSTANTIALLY V-SHAPED TRUNCATED ANNULARRECESS IN THE PERIPHERY OF SAID ROLLER WITH THE PLANE OF TRUNCATIONPROVIDING A CONTACT SURFACE, (C) A TRACK MEMBER ASSOCIATED WITH SAIDROLLER AND HAVING CONVERGENTLY SLOPING SIDES RECEIVED WITHIN SAIDRECESS, (D) SAID CONVERGENTLY SLOPING SIDES TERMINATING AT A FLATPORTION ARRANGED TO BEAR AGAINST THE CONTACT SURFACE OF SAID ROLLER, (E)SAID TRACK MEMBER BEING FORMED OF MOLDED MATERIAL MADE UP OF TWOSECTIONS WHICH COME TOGETHER AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM AND ARE SUBJECTED TOIRREGULAR FLASHING ALONG SAID FLAT PORTION AT THEIR JUNCTION LINE AND INTHE LINE OF MOVEMENT OF SAID TRACK MEMBER AS A RESULT OF THE MOLDINGPROCESS, AND (F) A SMALL PERIPHERAL GROOVE IN SAID CONTACT SURFACE OFSAID ROLLER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE IRREGULAR FLASHING ALONG SAID FLATPORTION OF SAID TRACK MEMBER.